Holy Spirit – Page 8 – New Connexions Church

Micah 5 Study

Keith Waters Bible Studies 7th November 2016bible, communication, discipline, eschatology, faith, Holy Spirit, hope, Israel, Jesus, judgement, justice, Micah, new connexions, prayer, redemption, repentance, salvation, sanctification, Trinity 0 Comment

Note to leaders: As with all studies, please don’t feel you must cover all questions, fine if you can, but rather take a few of the questions and do them justice that rush through 🙂

If you missed the sermon, you can pick it up here: The King from eternity

Verse 1 seems at complete odds with the rest of the chapter, what is Micah pointing to (cf. 2 Kings 25?);
Bethlehem was a tiny hamlet, what else do we know about Bethlehem from the bible? Also, why would God chose Bethlehem and not Jerusalem?
At the end of verse 2, consider what it means: ‘whose origins are in the distant past’. How should this impact a) our understanding of who Jesus is, b) our view of creation, c) our reading of the Old Testament?
Discuss verses 3-9, what are these verses pointing to?
Verses 10 to 14 at first glance look like more judgement, but are they? – if not what are they about – if so how does it fit with the rest of the passage?
Who is the last verse addressing and at which time?

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A Committed Christian?

Keith Waters Bible Studies, Christian Comment, Prayer 10th October 201613th October 2016bible, communication, discipline, faithfulness, forgiveness, Holy Spirit, hope, Jesus, love, mercy, morals, new connexions, prayer, redemption, repentance, resurrection, second chance, Trinity, truth, unfaithfulness 0 Comment

So often in our Christian lives we spend inordinate amounts of time talking about prayer, wanting to seek the Lord and do His will; which I believe are great sentiments, but as we approach the end of the year I’m drawn back to some words we used at the start of our year in our covenant service, words which were borrowed from a great puritan called Richard Alleine:

I am no longer my own but yours. Put me to what you will, rank me with whom you will; put me to doing, put me to suffering; let me be employed for you or laid aside for you, exalted for you or brought low for you; let me be full, let me be empty, let me have all things, let me have nothing; I freely and wholeheartedly give all things to you. Glorious and blessed God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit, you are mine and I am yours. So be it. This my covenant with you my God, made here on earth, let it be confirmed in heaven. Amen

Why not take that prayer again, study it, meditate on it, discuss it and consider: as individuals, and as Christ’s Church, have we yet made this prayer our own? How can we encourage one another, and what is the Lord asking of us as individuals walking in covenant with Him? If studying in a group: spend a good time in prayer seeking the Lord for each other and the wider Church. When studying alone: also, of course, pray through the issues that arise in your heart.

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Humble yourself!

Keith Waters Bible Studies 5th September 2016bible, communication, discipline, faith, forgiveness, Holy Spirit, humble, humility, James, morals, new connexions, repentance, Satan, scripture, truth, unfaithfulness 0 Comment

Some study questions For James 4:1-10.

Here’s the sermon if you missed it… Rock Solid

Take a few minutes as a group to remind each other about who James was, why he was writing etc.
Verse 1: If we have any disagreements with people in our church family, how should we deal with them? – see also Matthew 18: 15-20.
Why might we find prayer difficult?
Why doesn’t God give some people what they ask for? (James 4:3, Isaiah 55:89, 2 Peter 3:8, Philippians 4:6-7, John 15:7).
Verses 7-10. In the sermon we looked at three rock solid promises, what are they? Talk through each one as a group and look at how, if we take them to heart, they can empower us.
How is the reverse logic in verses 9 and 10 true?
What are the key applications in this passage that group members are going to take away and put into practice?

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A study on Hosea 4-6

Keith Waters Bible Studies 14th June 2016bible, communication, discipline, Holy Spirit, justice, law, lies, new connexions, prayer, prostitution, unfaithfulness 0 Comment

You’ll be helped in this study by taking time to pick up on the accompanying sermon Learn what this means!

We took an overview of three chapters this week and reading the whole of the text before divining in to study might be a challenge. Instead after seeking the Lord in prayer, take the approach we took in the service and read through a section then ponder on and discuss:
1. what was going on;
2. what was the Lord saying to the original hearers and why;
3. where is the application for us today.
Read Matthew 9: 9-13 discuss verse 13 – why is it important for us to do what Jesus commands there?

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